New York City Mayor Adams to have ‘routine’ medical tests, limit schedule
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(NEW YORK) — Mayor Eric Adams of New York City will limit his public schedule this week, as he undergoes “routine” medical tests during a series of doctors’ appointments, an aide said.
“Over the last few days, Mayor Adams hasn’t been feeling his best,” Fabien Levy, the mayor’s spokesperson, said on social media late Sunday.
Levy asked for privacy for the mayor’s personal matters. Adams’ office “will continue to communicate in the unlikely event he is unable to fully discharge his duties on any particular day,” Levy said.
“New Yorkers can rest assured that their local government will continue to deliver for them every day as our committed workforce at City Hall, and more than 300,000 employees at dozens of city agencies, continue to show up on the most important issues,” Levy said.
Adams, 64, is expected to stand trial on federal corruption charges in April.
He was indicted in September and charged with five criminal counts, including wire fraud, bribery and solicitation of contribution from a foreign national. He pleaded not guilty.
Adams meet with President-elect Donald Trump prior to his inauguration earlier this month, according to his office.
“President Trump and I had a productive conversation about New York’s needs and what’s best for our city, and how the federal government can play a more helpful role in improving the lives of New Yorkers,” Adams said in a statement.
Adams said he and Trump “did not discuss my legal case.”
ABC News’ Claire Brinberg contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a longstanding federal ban that prevented the sale of handguns to Americans between the ages of 18 and 20 — a landmark gun control regulation in place since 1968.
The conservative Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the federal law banning handgun sales to teens is inconsistent with the nation’s historical tradition and violates the Second Amendment.
The decision cited the Supreme Court’s 2022 opinion by Clarence Thomas in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which significantly expanded gun rights and threatens to rollback other gun safety laws nationwide.
“Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” the court wrote in its opinion statement.
The statement went on, “The federal government has presented scant evidence that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds’ firearm rights during the founding-era were restricted in a similar manner to the contemporary federal handgun purchase ban, and its 19th century evidence ‘cannot provide much insight into the meaning of the Second Amendment when it contradicts earlier evidence.'”
The immediate nationwide impact of the ruling is unclear. The case is almost certainly bound for the Supreme Court.
Handguns have been the most commonly used weapons in murders and mass shootings for decades in the United States, according to government data analyzed by The Violence Project.
Last term, the Supreme Court upheld a longstanding federal law prohibiting the possession of firearms by people under domestic violence restraining orders.
In the next few weeks, it will consider whether gun manufacturers can be held liable for violent crimes perpetrated by criminals who easily get the weapons.
(KANSAS) — Andrew Lester, the Kansas City man who pleaded guilty to felony assault in the second degree for the shooting of Ralph Yarl, has died while awaiting sentencing, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson announced on Wednesday.
“We have learned of the passing of Andrew Lester and extend our sincere condolences to his family during this difficult time,” Thompson said. “While the legal proceedings have now concluded, we acknowledge that Mr. Lester did take responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty in this case. Our thoughts remain with both families affected by this tragic incident as they continue their healing process.”
Lester, 86, was set to go on trial this week for shooting Yarl, a Black teenager who mistakenly knocked on his door, but ahead of the trial, Lester entered a guilty plea on Friday for felony assault in the second degree.
He was expected to be sentenced in this case during a hearing on March 7.
Second-degree assault, a Class D felony, carries with it the sentencing possibility of up to seven years in prison, Thompson said at a press conference after Friday’s hearing.
Lester was initially charged with one count of felony assault in the first-degree and one count of armed criminal action, also a felony, in the shooting of Yarl, who mistakenly went to Lester’s Kansas City home after arriving at the wrong address to pick up his twin brothers from a play date on April 13, 2023.
Lester, who is white, shot Yarl in the head and right arm, saying he believed someone was trying to break into his house, according to a probable cause statement obtained by ABC News. He initially pleaded not guilty in 2023 and was released on a $200,000 bond.
Yarl was 16 at the time of the shooting and suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to his family.
Yarl’s family told ABC News in a statement Wednesday that “justice was never truly served.”
“The news of Andrew Lester’s passing brings a mix of emotions, but it does not bring justice,” Yarl’s family said.
“We remain committed to seeking a world where no child fears for their life because of their race, and no family has to endure what we have. Ralph’s story is far from over, and neither is our fight for justice,” the family added.
Yarl’s family previously told ABC News Live Prime’s Linsey Davis on Friday that they were not happy with the plea deal that Lester accepted.
“About two years ago, we knew Mr. Lester was guilty,” Yarl’s mother Cleo Nagbe told Davis on Friday. “We let him do what he wanted to do and waited two years after for him to show up and say, ‘I’m going to plead guilty to the lesser of the charges.’ So we’re sick of this. So let’s just move on and give this kid a chance to move on with his life and live on as a regular kid.”
Lester’s attorney, Steve Salmon, previously argued that his client’s mental and physical capacity was a factor in the case, postponing the initial trial date from Oct. 7, 2024 to Feb. 18, 2025. Salmon said the retired air mechanic had heart and memory issues, a broken hip and had lost over 50 pounds.
In November, the judge ruled that Lester was fit to stand trial after reviewing the results of a mental exam.
Yarl opened up about the shooting in an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts in July 2023, where he reflected on his recovery and the harrowing experience.
“He points [the gun] at me … so I kinda, like, brace and I turn my head,” Yarl told Roberts. “Then it happened. And then I’m on the ground … and then I fall on the glass. The shattered glass. And then before I know it I’m running away shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”
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(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A Missouri woman has pleaded guilty in connection with what prosecutors called a “brazen” attempt to fraudulently put Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate up for auction.
Lisa Findley pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tennessee, on Tuesday. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss one count of aggravated identity theft that was previously filed against her.
When asked if she understood what she was pleading guilty to, Findley said, “yes.” She did not make a statement explaining her conduct.
Prosecutors are recommending Findley receive a 57-month federal prison sentence. She is due back in court for sentencing on June 19.
Findley, 53, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in the wake of her arrest last year. The trial had been scheduled to start in mid-April before Tuesday’s change of plea hearing.
The mail fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors said Findley formed a “brazen scheme” to try to “extort a settlement from the Presley family.”
As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Findley forged the signatures of Elvis Presley’s late daughter Lisa Marie and Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick in order to claim that Lisa Marie did not pay back a $3.8 million loan from a purported company called Naussany Investments that listed Graceland as collateral.
Philbrick spoke exclusively to ABC News, telling “Good Morning America” in August 2024 and “IMPACT x Nightline” in October 2024 that she never notarized anything for Lisa Marie Presley and has no idea how her name got involved in the scheme.
Naussany Investments, an unregistered entity that prosecutors said Findley was behind, filed public notices in May 2024 stating that it would auction off Graceland at the front of the Shelby County Courthouse.
A Shelby County chancellor issued a temporary injunction at the eleventh hour that prevented such an auction from taking place, citing an affidavit from Philbrick that stated her signature was forged and she never met Lisa Marie.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
